Educational Opportunities are Available at the Heritage Museum!

Some of the school tours (particularly for younger grades) are hosted in the Children's Legacy Centre, which is a completely interactive area of the museum featuring a general store, schoolroom, kitchen, and more.

The Heritage Museum offers curriculum-based school tours, which use existing school programs and curriculum to inform what the tours will examine and what will be learned. The programs are all examples of inquiry-based learning, which provides children with the opportunity to think about what they are experiencing, rather than simply being told the facts. Each grade has four or five different stations associated with a part of the museum, and teachers can choose which ones they would like students to participate in during their specific tour.

Kindergarten

In our Children's Legacy Centre the students have an opportunity to examine a pioneer community and home. The children experience the atmosphere of an old style schoolroom, the simplicity of an old fashioned general store (with or without purchases), a farm yard and laundry, pioneer rooms, and they have the opportunity to sit in a replica tipi and have story time. Children will be dressed in pioneer costumes, and classes have the opportunity to take part in butter-making and sampling home-made biscuits.

Grade One

The grade one program places an emphasis on pioneer living. Children go through fully interactive stations which include a general store (with or without purchasing options), a school room, a farm yard and laundry, pioneer rooms, and a replica tipi. Children will be dressed in pioneer costumes, and classes have the opportunity to take part in butter-making and sampling home-made biscuits.

Grade Two
Children will be dressed in pioneer costumes, and classes have the opportunity to take part in butter-making and sampling home-made biscuits.

New and Old
Conducted in the Century Home exhibit. This workshop teaches children to understand the basics of a pioneer child’s lifestyle, and the differences between what was then and what is now, particularly with regards to technology. Activity: Children are shown pictures of old stores, buildings and items in the Wetaskiwin area and are asked to connect them to current versions of the same things.
One Stop Shopping
Conducted in the General Store exhibit. This station introduces children to the idea of a general store, where people used to buy all of their goods. It also introduces the idea of bartering goods, rather than buying everything with cash or cards as we do today. Activity: Children examine old pictures of general stores with magnifying glasses and attempt to determine some of the items that were for sale.
Moving West
Conducted on the Museum main floor. In this activity, the children role-play early settlers to the Wetaskiwin area. Students are given roles such as the father, mother and children. The tour takes them on a trip through the museum, facing challenges that early settlers would have had, such as lack of transportation, provision of food and development of the land.
Plains Cree
Conducted in the Origins Exhibit. In this workshop children are taught to appreciate how aboriginal peoples have influenced the development of the Wetaskiwin area. Students examine and interact with a replica tipi, samples of animal skin and moccasins. Activity: Children must identify what different parts of a buffalo would have been used for by the Cree, and are introduced to the Bear Hills Trading Post.
Swedish Settlers
Conducted in the Swedish Exhibit. In this station, emphasis is placed on how different cultures impact Canada and contribute to Alberta’s culture. The narrative provides a description of the hardships many cultures, including the Swedish, faced when travelling to Canada. Activity: Students participate in a log home building activity, in which they assemble a miniature log cabin as a group.

Grade Three
Children will be dressed in pioneer costumes, and classes have the opportunity to take part in butter-making and sampling home-made biscuits.

Archaeological Dig
Conducted in the Children’s Legacy Centre/Archaeological table. Through this station children discover what an archaeologist does, what their job entails, and what the excavation process involves for discovering potential artifacts. Activity: Children role-play as amateur archaeologists and take part in a small dig.
Stone Tools
Conducted in the Origins Exhibit. In this workshop children role-play as early Aboriginals in the Wetaskiwin area and examine what sort of tools would have been used during this time, such as authentic hammerstones, arrowheads and axes. Guides will demonstrate the use of these tools and in some instances let the students try them for themselves. Activity: Students will complete an interactive quiz about the information they have just encountered.
Chinese Laundry
Conducted in the Chinese Laundry exhibit. In this station the students examine a re-created local Chinese laundry in order to gain an understanding of how Chinese immigrants contributed to Canada and the Wetaskiwin area. Also discussed in this station is the construction of the Canadian railroad, and how Chinese immigrants contributed to its creation. Activity: Students will act out different tasks which were a part of daily life within a Chinese laundry.
Wired
Conducted in the Children’s Legacy Centre, General Store. The goal of this station is for children to understand how people used to communicate before every home had a telephone and before the invention of cordless and cellular phones. Students will develop an understanding of how sound travels. Activity: The students are aided in the preparation and construction of their very own tin can phones, and then are provided time in which to use them, demonstrating the travel of sound.
General Store
Conducted in the General Store exhibit. This station teaches students about general stores. The General Store was a focal point in the community. At times people had to travel very long distances in order to reach the general store. At the store they would shop, pick up their mail, make any necessary telephone calls, and connect with neighbours they had not seen in a long time. Activity: The children will either: get to make use of shopping by bartering with old time items, or make use of math skills with penny purchases at the General Store.

Grade Four

Archaeological Dig
Conducted in the Children’s Legacy Centre/Archaeological table. The Archaeological Dig encourages children to explore different historic time periods and changes over time, understand the methodical process of excavating a site while using a variety of tools, draw conclusions about the people who lived in ancient times based on archaeological evidence and identify similarities and differences between the ancient world and contemporary society.
David Thompson
Conducted on the Museum main floor. The David Thompson role-playing activity asks students to critically examine and understand a Canadian hero’s story, a story of fur-trading and map-making, and develop an appreciation of how the physical geography of Canada affected the quality of life of early Canadians. They also learn to recognize how an understanding of Canadian history and the stories of its peoples contributes to their sense of identity.
Dinosaurs and Digging
Conducted in the Origins Exhibit. Students have the opportunity to examine and touch real dinosaur fossils, experience interactive panels demonstrating the shift from the ice age, and learn about paleontology and archaeology. Activity: Children are given a dinosaur puzzle to complete, and are then brought around to look at stone tools used by early Native tribes.
Geology
Conducted in the Children’s Legacy Centre, with use of land panels. Children will gain an understanding and appreciation of how elements of Alberta’s geography and geology are integral to the landscapes and environment of Alberta, appreciate the diversity of Alberta’s geology and examine critically how geology contributes to knowledge of Alberta’s geography. Activity: Students will complete an interactive quiz regarding the information they have just received.
Hutterite Culture
Conducted in the Hutterite Exhibit. The children learn about the journey and settlement of Hutterites in Alberta, their culture, their lifestyle, and compare and contrast local cultures. Activity: The children (with aid from the group leader) will learn how to card wool in order to develop an appreciation for the hard work involved in life on a Hutterite colony.
General Store
Conducted in the General Store exhibit. This station introduces children to the idea of a general store, where people used to buy all of their goods. It also introduces the idea of bartering goods, rather than buying everything with cash or cards as we do today. Activity: Children participate in an “I Spy”/Scavenger Hunt game around the general store.

Grade Five

Archaeological Dig
Conducted in the Children’s Legacy Centre/Archaeological table. This interactive station is made to show children in what ways archaeology has contributed to our understanding of early First Nations. The activity gives children the opportunity to dig through a re-created archaeological dig site, sifting through sand with provided tools in order to find the buried artifacts. The children are also expected to hypothesize about the nature of the items they uncover.
David Thompson
Conducted on the Museum main floor. The David Thompson activity asks students to critically examine and understand a Canadian hero’s story, a story of fur-trading and map-making, and develop an appreciation of how the physical geography of Canada affected the quality of life of early Canadians. Activity: Students are assigned roles as David Thompson, Charlotte Small, Voyageurs and the Hudson Bay Company.
The Great Depression
Conducted in the Museum board room. This station asks students to critically examine the Great Depression of the 1930s and in what ways life was affected in both urban and rural communities. It also asks students to discuss critically how economic booms and crashes affected ways of life in Canada. This is also related back to current events, as best they fit. Throughout the workshop, students are provided hands-on examples of goods from the time, as well as pictures.
Immigration
Conducted in the Swedish Exhibit. This station is intended to teach children about the hardships of immigration, and the various groups that most commonly immigrated to Canada, particularly the Swedish. Activity: Students are given blank maps on which they are expected to map typical immigration routes from Europe to Western Canada and come to understand the importance of sea travel.
Trading Post
Conducted in the Origins Exhibit. The students are dressed up as the Head Trader, Voyageurs and Cree Tradesmen for this interactive activity. They are instructed as to what the roles of each of these people was in the trading post setting, and examine the system of trading that was implemented at that time using beaver and other animal pelts. The children are then given the opportunity to act out actual trades in which they count beaver pelts and carry the goods to the “East”.
Scavenger Hunt
Conducted on the Museum second floor. After the regular rotation, students will be provided an opportunity to explore a diversity of stories and experiences, critically examine information, develop skills of historical thinking, and navigate within text for necessary information. They are allowed to roam the upper floor of the museum in small groups to attempt to complete the scavenger hunt, providing them with an individualized experience of the museum.

Grade Six

David Thompson
Conducted on the Museum main floor. The students are expected to critically examine and understand a Canadian hero’s story, a story of fur-trading and map-making, and develop an appreciation of how the physical geography of Canada affected the quality of life of early Canadians. They will also learn to recognize how an understanding of Canadian history and the stories of its peoples contributes to their sense of identity. Activity: Students are given the opportunity to become cartographers, using a map of Wetaskiwin to determine local landmarks.
The Land and the Trees
Conducted in the Children’s Legacy Centre, in front of the land panels. Students should gain a better understanding of what kind of geographical region they live in, the kinds of animals that live here, and the importance of the natural environment. They should also understand deforestation and the impact that we as humans have on the environment. Activity: In order to demonstrate to students how every part of nature is interconnected, they will all play a part in a ‘food chain’.
Immigration
Conducted in the Swedish, Chinese Laundry and Hutterite exhibits. Students are taught about the hardships of immigration, the establishment of democracies and dictatorships, different religions and the large immigrant populations in Canada. As well, they will take part in a demonstration of Canada’s citizenship application process. Examined in this station are Swedish settlers, Chinese immigrants and Hutterites of the area. Activity: Students will complete a word scramble using the information they have just discussed.
Trading Post
Conducted in the Origins Exhibit. The students are dressed up as the Head Trader, Voyageurs and Cree Tradesmen for this interactive activity. They are instructed as to what the roles of each of these people was in the trading post setting, and they are told about the system of trading that was implemented at that time using beaver and other animal pelts. The students are then given the opportunity to act out actual trades in which they count beaver pelts and carry the goods to the “East”.
Scavenger Hunt
Conducted on the Museum second floor. This station is provided after the regular rotation, and students will be provided an opportunity to explore a diversity of stories and experiences, critically examine information, develop skills of historical thinking, and navigate within text for necessary information. They are allowed to roam the upper floor of the museum in small groups to attempt to complete the scavenger hunt, providing them with an individualized experience of the museum.

The average program length is 2 hours, but can be flexible depending on the need.

Download the School Tour Request Form here.